Jacob and Isabella. Two of my least-favorite names. Not because of the names themselves being bad, but simply because of the connotation they’ve taken on since Twilight has overtaken the consciousness of women everywhere. Thanks in no small part to the Twilight books, Isabella and Jacob have become the two most-popular baby names in the United States; however, Jacob has been popular for 10 years or so now, well before the steroid werewolf teen showed up in books. As it turns out, trends in baby names grow the same way all trends do, via local sources.
A 2009 study by Hebrew University’s Jacob Goldenberg and Moshe Levy revealed some interesting information about how baby names grow from local to regional and, further on, to national trends. For example, the name Isabella first became popular in Colorado and Rhode Island. From Colorado, it spread to California, Nevada, and Arizona. From Rhode Island, it spread to Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. Once you get Cali and NYC, you get America.
Of course, why people initiate naming trends is an unsolvable mystery, but studying how trends track and grow can be helpful in following (or avoiding) the crowd when it comes to giving your baby a popular (but not too popular) name.
Image: ICHC
Tags: names, baby names, baby name trends, Isabella, Jacob, top names for boys, top names for girls, trendy baby names, baby naming trends, human names, sociology